Musings on food and life from Beth Bader, the co-author of The Cleaner Plate Club. Ingredients: original recipes, food policy insights, parenting fun, and a dash of humor.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Weekend Herb Blogging: Pesto Presto Squaghetti

We had just finished dinner, and the Kiddo polished off more of my latest recipe than I did. This is a major feat since she weighs one-fifth what I do. She loves pesto. If I put roasted garden veggies in front of her, she would not like the mix. Cover it in pesto and Presto! It’s gone. Around here, pesto is better than cheese sauce. And, that was one good batch of pesto. I had used two kinds of basil; the sweet, bright green common basil and the earthier, more subtle opal basil with its deep purple leaves.

We cleared the dishes, and she pulled me over to the spice cabinet for our favorite pastime — smelling the spices and herbs. Tonight, the herb shelves caught her eye, and we began opening jars. She handed me the basil.

“Oh, we just ate this! But it tastes and smells different when it is dried.”

Blank look from the peanut gallery. She’s not yet three, after all, and I didn’t even get the difference of fresh vs. dried herbs until I was out of college. Oh boy, how do we explain this one? I thought.

“Okay, let’s go outside.” I said. We took the jar and went to visit the basil plants. I handed her fresh leaves from the plants to smell, both the sweet basil and the deep purple opal variety. I showed her the jar and we smelled them all. Then, she ate the basil leaves. She does this often. She used to eat the dirt, too. I’m not sure what that says about my cooking.

As I was trying to teach my little one about basil, I learned a bit myself. I had planted both kinds of basil in the same pot. Probably one of those amateur gardener mistakes, huh? As the plants have grown, the deep purple opal basil plants started getting mottled green and purple leaves, and some leaves were completely green. The sweet basil started getting some of the purple coloration.

So, I did a bit of research. Many basil plants are the same species, Oscimum basilicum, even ones that look as distinct as Thai Basil and Green Bush Basil. The varieties are referred to as cultivars. However, if allowed to cross-pollinate, as mine did, they lose their distinct characteristics. The hapless (clueless in my case) gardener ends up with green-purple-mottled-sweet-spicy basil. And some pretty tasty pesto.

The recipe I created for it was another one of those happy accidents. You see, I have this odd aversion to mushy summer squash. I am always trying to find new ways to fix it that I like. I decided to use long strands of squash as part of the “noodles” in the dish. Less mush to noodle ratio or something like that. To make the squash noodles, leave the peel on a long zucchini, and make long sweeps using a lemon zester. Continue zesting until you hit the seeds, turn the squash and start the next strip. The dark green peel adds a lot of color. The end result looks like this.

When I read the description I thought you were talking about 'spaghetti squash'.I like this ides even better! Great way to use the ever-prolific courgette!If I ever get the gold ones I planted to fruit I could make a very pretty dish...thanks for the idea ;-)

“Besides Nigella Lawson’s “How to Be a Domestic Goddess,” I can’t think of another cookbook that causes me to laugh out loud. From page one, I felt like I was sitting at my table with old friends. This isn’t just a cookbook: it’s an educational arsenal to wield your way with grace and dexterity through the carnival that is the modern American food system…Without increasing my weekly budget, I increased our vegetable consumption at our evening meals by two vegetable dishes a night. It was no longer a battle of eat your veggies,’ but a question of ‘which vegetable would you like to eat tonight?’”

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About Me

The Cleaner Plate Club offers simple solutions, recipes, meal suggestions, and tips to help parents get kids to eat good food and -- guess what? -- enjoy it. With humor and compassion, the authors show readers how to prepare real foods, plan ahead and estimate prep time, and get used to cooking food that doesn't come with printed directions. Their fresh advice will help parents eliminate food waste, plan for leftovers, present foods that are appealing to kids, and quit fighting with their children about food. The Cleaner Plate Club offers kid-tested recipes for every meal, basic vegetable preparations for farmers' market finds, and more healthful recipes for sweets and snacks. Readers will also find shopping strategies, the reasons kids like the foods they do, and vegetable profiles (including nutrition information and tips on selection, storage, and preparation). Expert advice and innovative ideas about feeding kids make this book a must-have for any parent. Fresh, funny, and nonjudgmental, The Cleaner Plate Club is a recipe for healthier kids and happier parents.